There's No Place Like Home
by malluu
Summary: The Sanctuary team rescues an empath named Cora.  AU - Ashley's still alive.  Henry/OC


A/N: AU because Ashley is still alive. Also I don't own Sanctuary, if I did Ashley would still be alive and there would be a lot more romance happening inside the Sanctuary.

**Chapter 1: The Meet-Not Cute**

"Hands in the air!"

"Henry, get their weapons."

"Why me?"

"Boys! I'll do it."

The Sanctuary team was raiding the hideout of a group of illegal abnormal dealers. Luckily they had called in a tactical team to help so they had the bad guys way outnumbered and they were forced to surrender. Once the building was cleared, the tac team escorted the gang members outside. The Sanctuary Network had their own special way of dealing with criminals like these. Dr. Magnus, Ashley, Henry, and Will began to check out the cages filled with abnormals.

"This place reminds me of one of those abused animal commercials. I feel like a Sarah McLachlan song should be playing," Will quipped.

"It's horrendous! Start loading them into the truck. We need to get them back to the Sanctuary immediately."

"Hey, Magnus, come check this out," called Henry. He was crouched in front of a comparatively large cage. Inside, huddled in the corner was a young woman, her knees curled up to her chest and her filthy floral dress pulled down over them. She was shaking and her wide eyes were taking in everything that was happening.

"I'm Dr. Magnus from the Sanctuary. We're not going to hurt you. We're here to help." Getting no response from the girl Magnus continued, "What's your name?"

In a soft voice the girl finally spoke, "Cora Mae Connolly."

Magnus turned to Henry, "Can you get this lock open?" Henry nodded his head, got out a few tools and began fiddling with the lock. Cora crawled closer to the front of the cage next to Magnus.

"Why are you helping me?"

Magnus replied, "We're from the Sanctuary. We help protect abnormals, people and animals that are different. If you would like to come with us we can help you, too. I'm a doctor and I'd like to look at your injuries."

With a satisfied, "All done," Henry started to put away his tools and Magnus opened the cage door.

"Yes, I'd like to come with you." Cora uncurled herself to get out of the cage. Magnus noticed that she was holding her arm close to her chest and made a mental note to x-ray her arm once she was back at the Sanctuary.

Cora stood up outside of the cage and suddenly went limp. "Whoa, there," Henry caught her before she could hit the floor and picked her up in his arms.

"Take her out to van. Ashley, Will finish up here. We're going to take her back to the Sanctuary."

"Alright, we're almost done here."

Henry carefully laid Cora out in the back of the van and stared at her for a moment. He felt an overwhelming urge to protect her and hoped she would be alright.

* * *

><p>Back at the Sanctuary, Magnus was finishing up examining Cora in the infirmary.<p>

Henry walked into the infirmary where Magnus was treating Cora. On one hand she looked better because Magnus had cleaned her up and put her in a hospital gown but on the other she looked way worse. Cora was hooked up to several machines monitoring her vital signs, she had cuts and bruises all over her body and her left arm was wrapped in a cast. "So how is she?"

Magnus looked up at Henry. "Well, she's suffering from dehydration, malnutrition, bruising, superficial lacerations, and a fractured left ulna. In addition, it seems she has been drugged the past few weeks. I'm working now on expelling it from her system. Overall, she should be fine given the proper time to heal."

"That's good," Henry nodded. "Do you have any idea why they had her in the first place?"

"Not yet. Her blood work is normal but I'm waiting to do brain scans until she's alert. I expect we'll find out then. How are the others?"

"Oh good, none were in as bad of shape as her. Mostly just dirty and hadn't been feed properly. Biggie, Ashley, and Will are getting them all settled in."

"I think I'll go help with our new arrivals. There's not much more I can do here until she wakes up."

Henry sat down next to the bed, "I'm going to stay here."

"Let me know when she wakes up," Magnus called with a smirk

A/N: This is the very first fanfiction I've ever written. I would love some constructive criticism to help me write future chapters.


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